An alarming rustling sound fired off in the silence. It was something like the sound of a cereal box being opened, but no one else was home to be going after a late night cereal snack. The other odd thing was that the cereal box was apparently being opened on the ceiling.
"Silly thing," I whispered to the dragonfly clattering its wings together around the light fixture. It seemed to be making the assumption that my home was a labyrinth likely to have Minotaur settled somewhere at its center, and he was having significant doubts about that decision to fly in from the back door. I felt a bit of kinship towards him and his doubts. I certainly have had my share.
Last Night In The Wee Hours Of The Morn
I was finally going to sleep, when I heard the sound of a stifled sob. The sob was drawing nearer, until it sounded more like hyperventilation than controlled tears. The girl, with bottom lip in an adorable but heartbreaking tremble, stood before me and in all her wisdom of four years got straight to the point.
“I had a nightmare.”
She leaped onto my lap, and I accepted her with a strange sort of connection, like two Lego pieces that fit quite neatly together—not like those dollar store ones that really require force to snap into place. I squeezed her tightly against me, soaking up the wonderfulness of unconditional love. Wholehearted, true love. Romantic love never holds a candle to that between mother and child.
We nuzzled into the covers with her still clinging to me tightly, feeling secure, but nervous to speak the words as though speaking them would make them real. So she whispered them.
“It was something green.”
“Was it a monster?”
There was a silent nod.
Speaking the words seemed to have the opposite of the feared reaction. She contentedly fell back asleep. I rested there, feeling her fine hair tasseled against my nose.
There have been times when I have questioned my life choices. I have had my doubts. But this wasn’t one of those times.
Yesterday Afternoon I Was Standing At The Sink
Elbow deep in dish water, I waited impatiently for the boy to complete his assigned school work while he feigned doing his chores to keep himself safe in the arms of procrastination. Snarly words were charging out of my mouth when they were interrupted and then stopped in their tracks.
“Mom! A butterfly hatched!”
And the little procrastinator wasn’t even lying. Inside the plastic container, formerly the residence of some salted mixed nuts, was a monarch butterfly gently fluttering those strange things that had miraculously appeared on her back.
“Take the top off!” I shouted unnecessarily as the boy was already unscrewing the cap as he made his way onto the porch. Lady Butterfly made her way out of the container, elegantly moving her spindly little legs. After a few minutes of watching her idle around on the rim, I returned to my dishes, watching from the sink as the boy spent the next thirty minutes allowing her to crawl onto his finger and feel the air.
The three other cocoons, still green and unopened, jiggled softly as the container was bumped. It seemed as though they were looking on, wanting to hurry the process and be fluttering on the outside too. The boy watched with a peaceful expression as the butterfly resting on his finger suddenly took flight. There clearly was magic among us.
I have had my times of doubting on many bad days, but this wasn’t one of them.
The Dragonfly Slammed Into The Window
“Rest easy, there’s no Minotaur here,” I whispered as I turned out the lights in the house. I made my way to the porch to flick on the lights there, pushing the door to its widest capacity. He made a quick zoom through the corridors of the labyrinth composed of my living room and dining room, then zoomed his way out the open door into the black night sky.
There was just no time for him to doubt. He had to keep on moving, on toward the good times.
Naawww...Cute little thing had a nightmare...Something green huh? Could have been that gooey mint filling in dark mint chocolate...But then it would have been a dream! Lol.
So, there I was happily enjoying your write-up when boom you mention Lego. My pulse quickened, a broad grin (on me this is tantamount to a smirk) split my face in twain and I cooed...Lego...In a deep, man-ish, smokey-hot voice.
Ok, none of that happened, but I did enjoy your Lego reference more than I probably should have.
Butterflies taking flight reminded me that at some stage that boy of yours will too...Not literally of course...But he'll fly the coop someday...As will the girl, and they'll leave with a really nice upbringing methinks. (What a great word methinks is.)
Hey Ginny, I hope you're well, and continue to be so.
The kids had watched several episodes of Scooby-Do that day. I suspect the green monster had its origins there. What can I say, I was gloriously cooking eggplant parmesan with no interruptions while they stared at the screen :)
Ha, you'd love my son's collection. He has Lego vehicles of all sort of varieties, and currently has various inventions sitting underneath the table in the shadows. Sort of bat-cave like it is down there.
I thought about that too. It is so hard to picture the children grown. We have so far to go yet. And that is a good thing.
Methinks methinks is a good word.
I hope you are well too. Things are pretty slow here. In my county (in the north of the state, whereas the "hot spot" here is in the south of the state) there are almost no cases in the hospital. I don't personally know of anyone that has had it. We are told the peak has passed. It is all seeming a bit sketchy. I don't doubt that it is a serious problem, but it isn't here, other than all the people that have lost their jobs.
Methinks a lot of hype has been made of the flu...But then again many have died, 53,000 in the USA I believe. Not many here in Australia...70 or so. Anyway, it is a reality, the situation, and we all need to deal with it and the ramifications of it...And for years to come unfortunately.
Lego is legit...I can tell your son is a man of distinction. (And has a couple parents of distinction to be supplying the Lego in the first place.)
Anyway, I hope you're well and enjoying your early AM (12:30am there or some such thing right?)
Hello you. How are you? Hope all is still well with you, now that I am finally replying to comments two months later. It just so happens that I am in fact enjoying my early AM, 1:30 actually, but you were close :)
Will drop you an email soon.
Hey
strange person, I mean stranger! LolI'll look out for your email. Good to hear form you.
Thank you.
Ahaaaaa... we should all aspire to be that dragonfly, huh...
I'm a dragon anyway, just need to fly... soon.. the time will come... ;)
Take care, stay safe, all yous...
I do think being a dragonfly would be lovely. Can you just imagine zooming through the sky with that light body? There you are, cruising through the evening breeze, swooping by the tree branches and blasting up toward the rising moon, and then the grand moment arrives - you swallow that mosquito whole. Can't you just feel it in your throat? ;)
Hahahaha... gulp!
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Life is so fully of doubts ! Love those times that bring clarity and a rush of warm love sparkling through us.
As always, I enjoyed reading what you have written.
Hope you are doing well.
I hope you are doing well also. I've taken quite a break from all this, and am just now getting back to reply to comments. Hope you are still hanging around this place. And hopefully things have settled into something more normal where you are at as far as all these current events. Life is certainly still a bit out of whack in Florida.
Heyyyyyyyyyy.... I've been missing you ! I come over to your page every few days to see if you have posted yet and I have missed it in my stream.
I am still hanging around as you can see now.
Life is a bit out of whack here too, well at least for those of us that are trying to stay close to home and wear masks and the such. There are some that are throwing caution to the wind and doing whatever they want. I kind of envy their freedom, but I am still running on "better safe than sorry" mode since I fall in one of the high risk categories. :)
I know there are more important things in life, but I will be happy when I see you are posting again.
Take care !
That's so sweet of you to come in and check on me. Glad that you read my ramblings. Is nice to know that someone does :)
Yes, it is tempting to throw caution to the wind. I have not been extremely cautious over the last several weeks because there have been so few numbers in the local hospital with it (I get insider info because my husband works there), but I also have not been exposing myself to any and everything. The temptation is certainly there.
I have been focusing on the more important things in life the last few months, but also have come out with the realization that one of the important things is writing. I do love it.
Glad you are doing well.